The American ambassador warns again of the expansion of the black list in North Macedonia

2024-12-10 17:01:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The American ambassador warns again of the expansion of the black list in North

The American ambassador in Skopje, Angela Aggeler

The American ambassador in Skopje, Angela Aggeler, has warned for the second time in weeks that Washington is considering new options to impose sanctions on other people suspected of crime and corruption in North Macedonia.

Aggeler made this warning on Tuesday, a day after the US State Department (Dash) announced that it has placed the former deputy prime minister of North Macedonia, Artan Grubi, and the judge of the Court of Appeal, Enver Bexheti, on the blacklist of the States of United.

"There are a number of sanctions available from the US Government, as you know. There are Treasury sanctions. There are expanded sanctions possible for other family members of those named. So at this point, all those reviews are still in process," Aggeler said during a press conference in Skopje.

She did not name names or timelines, but added that the US will continue to hold "corrupt actors" accountable.

“[The blacklisting] of individuals who have been involved in criminal corruption is an ongoing process. There is a very dynamic list, in the sense that it is constantly being added to, and the evidence is examined very carefully in Washington", stressed Aggeler.

Grubi, who was the deputy prime minister of North Macedonia from the ranks of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) during the last mandate 2020-2024, and judge Bexheti, according to DASH, "have been involved in major corruption by accepting bribes to undermined the court proceedings related to the criminal conviction of Sasho Mijalkov, the former director of the secret service".

Aggeler, in response to questions from journalists, did not give specific details about Grub's role in the Mijalkov case, but emphasized that the evidence is examined with special care before it is published.

"And only after there is clear and visible evidence of violations, individuals are sanctioned," she added.

Close members of Grubi's family are also included in the blacklist.

In a Facebook response late Monday, Grubi said he was informed of DASH's decision by the media and denied being involved in corruption.

DUI said on Tuesday, through a short communique, that it respects the decision of DASH for its member. She said she "remains committed to strategic cooperation with the US".

On the other hand, the first deputy prime minister of North Macedonia, Izet Mejhiti, who is part of the Albanian coalition VLEN in the Government, assessed that the decision of DASH to place Artan Grub on the black list is "confirmation of the right commitments of coalition".

Mejhiti called on the DUI membership to abandon, as he called, "the sinking ship".

Meanwhile, the Macedonian party VMRO-DPMNE, of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, called the sanctioning of Grubi and Bexheti "a great shame for the state".

Regarding judge Enver Bexheti, VMRO said that he kept the case of Sasho Mijalkov in his drawers, which, according to her, testifies to the "partisanship" of the judiciary.

"Judges supported by Artan Grubi and the DUI are slowly ending up on the US blacklist, along with members of the DUI", says the VMRO communique.

Mijalkov is also on the US blacklist from 2022.

He was sentenced in July 2022 to three years in prison in the case known as "Empire", for the accusations of criminal association, acquisition and illegal concealment of wealth, or money laundering, namely over 8 million euros, through companies " offshore" (company abroad). In addition to the "Empire" case, Mijallkov was convicted of several other serious criminal offenses.

The Criminal Court of Skopje on February 26, 2021 sentenced him to 12 years in prison for the criminal offense of "criminal association", "illegal wiretapping" and "destruction of wiretapping equipment".

He was sentenced to three years in prison for the illegal acquisition of plots on the tourist mountain "Vodno" in Skopje, while on March 8, 2019, to two years for electoral malpractice.

The case of Sasho Mijalkov has made the judiciary in North Macedonia the target of criticism from the European Union and the United States.

DASH's decision on Grub and Bexheti came about a month after the American ambassador in Skopje, Angela Ageler, warned on November 21 about the expansion of the black list with other people suspected of crime and corruption in North Macedonia.

The American blacklist also includes the former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the former Deputy Prime Minister Koço Angjushev, the mayor of Struga Municipality Ramiz Merko, the businessman Orce Kamçev, the chairman of the Albanian Democratic Party Menduh Thaçi, the former deputy Xhevat Ademi, the former minister of of Internal Affairs, Lube Boshkovski and others./ REL